Smith said the congregation became suspicious when their checks started to bounce.

“Funds were diverted from the operating account, and then swept out, so that’s why there was no inkling – plus you had a person who you would never have suspected,” congregation chairman Azriel Ganz said.

The orthodox synagogue is a fixture in Woodmere. Its passionate members said the news – more than half a million dollars gone with the wind – hit them like a sucker punch.

“I think it really shocks the community when people steal, whether it’s $600,000 from a synagogue or loose change in dollar bills from a poor box in a church,” Smith said.

Jennifer McLogan returned to WCBS-TV in 1993 to cover Long Island after first reporting for the station in 1982.
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In the years between, she worked for CBS affiliate WBBM-TV in Chicago and for NBC Network News where she reported...